While entirely predictable, Russia's move to cut off huge amounts of natural gas it sends to Ukraine further inflames the tensions between those two nations and could have much broader implications, especially in Europe.

The announcement was painful enough to Ukraine because it's a heavily industrialized nation whose major industries depend on natural gas. But the situation worsened Monday when Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk cryptically announced that Russia also has halted the importation of Ukraine's agricultural products. Russia is one of the major markets for Ukrainian agriculture.

Yatsenyuk said the moves are designed to "destroy Ukraine." It's hard to see it any other way.

Ukraine already is rife with internal discord that has pitted those with Russian loyalties -- mostly in the eastern portion of the country -- against those who have favored looking to the West in hope that this would help their country become a more independent, sovereign nation.

Russia has used a heavy hand to influence events in Ukraine since it left the Soviet Union more than two decades ago. It has cut off natural gas supplies twice before, including during the harsh winter months when residents suffered from restrictions on energy for heating.

The effects of the shut-off may be felt throughout Europe because Ukrainian pipelines are a crucial link between Europe and Russia, with about 15 percent of the continent's natural gas flowing through Ukrainian territory.

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Russia couches its action as more of a business dispute than a geopolitical one. That is disingenuous.

Russia was fine with Ukraine's paying $269 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas as long as the Kremlin-friendly (a euphemism for political puppet) Victor Yanukovych was the president.

But since protests in the streets of Kiev forced the clearly corrupt Yanukovych to flee the country last February, Russia has retaliated on a number of fronts.

It annexed the Crimean Peninsula, conducted extensive military exercises along the border and sowed seeds of unrest in other areas of eastern Ukraine.

Then it decided to charge Ukraine $485 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas as well as strangle its agricultural export market.

Ukraine strenuously objected to the price increase, which would be the highest price in Europe by quite a margin. The Russians came down to $385 per 1,000 cubic meters, but the deal still contained provisions that would allow Russia to impose price hikes if the Ukrainian government does anything that displeases the Kremlin.

That sounds like geopolitical extortion rather than a business deal. But Putin has his own dictionary for these kinds of things. It seems his trustworthiness and ethics grow sketchier by the day.